This application relates to providing a polarization feature to assure that mating connectors are properly oriented with respect to one another prior to mating, and in particular to using a portion of the panel on which a connector is mounted or adjacent to a connector accessible through the aperture as a polarization feature to assure that the complementary connector mating with the connector mounted on or adjacent to the panel is properly oriented prior to mating.
Polarization features to assure that connectors are properly oriented for mating take many forms. U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,574 discloses a polarization system of ribs and channels in mating connectors. The connector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,441 is typical of connectors employing a trapezoidal or subminiature D configuration as a polarization feature. U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,266 discloses a connector system employing a receptacle housing cavity that has a stepped sidewall. Generically, these connector polarization features are structural features on the connectors that provide a polarization function.
It would be desirably to be able to provide a polarization feature for use with connectors that is not a structural feature on a connector.